Caylis's Necklace
by Aria Saeryen
Summary: Another Neopian Times story. A young Cybunny falls off her boat and lands in an underwater city. She quickly learns it's in danger. Please review, I've gotten nothing for any of my Neopets stuff.
1. Chapter 1

"Where in Neopia is Schala?!"

Mima the Blue Acara kicked her Blue Lupe Plushie at Marisa, her Angelpuss. She, her sister, and their guardian were all going on a vacation to Meridell. They would go by boat—_would_, if Schala ever appeared.

"Mima? Sae?"

The head of a Green Cybunny poked itself through the doorway to the parlor. Schala could see that her sister was not happy, but why? She was usually full of sass and flair, not to mention pride for the land she hailed from. Her room was plastered with the flag of Altador—it may as well have been her wallpaper.

Upon sight of Schala, the Acara tossed her brown hair in quite a pompous way.

"Where have you been?! Don't you know that Sae is waiting outside for us? Our ship leaves Altador in an hour!"

Schala sighed. She picked the fishbowl that contained her Catamara, MagusOfSaeryn, and walked toward the door.

* * *

"Oh, how I hear the song of the sea," the sisters' guardian, Saeryena, sang. Her golden-brown hair danced in the wind, almost as if in rhythm with her Cybunny's blue hair. Schala danced on the deck of the _Sakura_, while her sister sat on the far rail, absorbed in another Altador book.

It was said that the ship had once belonged to Siyana the Light Faerie and, as the legend had it, a close friend of hers. But something must've happened, because as far as Schala knew, the First to Rise had abandoned the boat and the touring company had taken it. The clever Cybunny could not help but wonder about such a thing, but that was beside the point. They were going to Meridell!

She continued to dance along the newly swabbed sapphire-colored floors of the golden boat's deck, unaware that she was little too close to the rails. Only Mima noticed in looking up once from her book to listen to Sae's song. She felt the boat begin to turn, and leapt onto the deck just in time to see her sister slip on the slick floor.

"Schala!" Mima screamed.

Schala slammed into the rail with great force. At the very moment, a great wave broke, as if by fate, and at the very moment it impacted the ship, she was flipped over the rail and into the raging sea.

"Schala! Schalaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Schaaaaaaaalaaaaa…"

Frantically and desperately trying to keep afloat, Schala watched as the [i]Sakura[/i] sailed far away, and heard Mima's screams fade to a whisper…

* * *

A Maraquan tail parted the overgrown seaweed as flowing, purple hair danced in the calm world under the ocean, a world very unlike its surface, where more and more gigantic waves broke.

Her smooth gray hand caught the light from above the raging waters. Eyes followed what seemed to be complete nothingness from there to here, where the rocks were forever strangled by the water vines. Then—oh, a most astounding sight! The form of a Neopet, flailing its arms in vain. She had the idea it could swim, but it seemed so panicked that it didn't know what to do. Not to mention the fact that wave after wave was headed in its direction.

She wasted no time. The silky purple tail had never whipped back and forth so fast. When she caught up with the sinking form of the now unconscious Neopet, she saw it was a young, blue-haired Cybunny…

Caylis swiftly whisked her seaweed necklace her sister had given her from her throat and forced it onto the neck of Schala.

"Unnh…are we there yet…?"

Schala's eyes came slightly unhinged. The first thing that caught her attention was the fact that it was dark. Soon, after fully opening her eyes, she realized she wasn't on the ship.

In fact, it looked as though she was underwater.

Indeed, she could feel water flowing all around her, and yet breathing it in felt like a breath of fresh air. Strange…

An unmistakable sign was the seaweed. Nothing like that grew around any caves on land. And—oh my, could it be?

She could plainly see the figure of a Maraquan Aisha, with such a familiar purple color to her hair and tail.

"Caylis?" she half whispered.

Caylis turned. The Cybunny was awake.

"What's going on?" Schala asked quietly.

The voice that answered back was a bit like Fyora's might be; calm and wise, and yet it was also airy and mysterious. And foreboding, in a way that one might have been too desperate.

"You fell…"

Schala got up and gasped. She was floating! It was as though she was on Kreludor. If Caylis was here, added to this, it could only mean she was indeed underwater. And breathing…somehow.

"You fell…from your ship, and I caught you."

Schala floated to the ground and faced one of her idols.

"Thank you…" she said, still not believing what she was seeing.

"I trust you know who I am," the Aisha said matter-of-factly.

"Caylis. I just can't believe I'm seeing you."

"And who might you be?"

"I'm called Schala."

* * *

The image was still so vivid in Isca's mind. The face of her sister flowed through her thoughts as they turned to those gray arms wrapping around a sinking Neopet, possessing of waves of blue hair. And the necklace. That necklace so much like her own; it gave one the power to breathe underwater. And Caylis had slipped it over the neck of that unlucky Neopet.

Isca decided that she had to tell King Kelpbeard right away.

"Why, Isca?!" the King boomed. "Why did you interrupt me with a pointless 'prediction' you had? Your sister made her choice. She is not coming back to our city!"

"But, Your Majesty," the Aisha protested, "I never said anything of wanting to bring her here! I only thought it strange and inquired as to what it meant—"

"Which is nothing!" the King interrupted her. "Don't mention this again! You shouldn't concern yourself with her."

Isca sighed. What was the use of having prophetic power when it was thought to be completely futile? Her poor sister…

She would often wonder what Caylis was doing every day, and sometimes she had tried to go see her, but the guards claimed it was unsafe to travel beyond the city of Maraqua. If that were the case, Isca thought angrily, then why was Caylis allowed to leave? What was there that was so dreadful that she couldn't even visit her sister?

She had to find out what this meant. If she dreamed it, it must have significance. Her blue tail whipped the strands of kelp and seaweed as she kept her eyes on the exit of the Maraquan city.

"Where are you going?"

Isca turned. A Maraquan Gelert had spoken to her.

"Well, I…"

Wait a minute. Why was he asking?

"Forgive me, Lady Isca," the Gelert said, bowing. "My name's Aiden. I think you should know that I saw your sister carry away a drowning land dweller."

"Th-thank you," she stammered, swimming in an ever faster motion toward the gates.

Only one thought echoed in Isca's head. Her dream of the Cybunny plus Aiden's account of what happened equaled –

She had to find Caylis. Now. The last time she'd had a dream of a land dweller was because that Neopet was going to save her beloved underwater world. And if this were the same sort of thing, it meant Maraqua was in danger again! Finding out where her sister was keeping the Cybunny was her number one priority.

At last, she reached the gates of the city. She had two choices now: either turn back and forget about everything, or venture off into the unknown. She'd been there before, but the times she had it had been a little creepy, not to mention the time the Chasm Beast had appeared and almost eaten everyone. She wasn't even sure where Caylis was now. She'd followed her sister's sobs before, but she couldn't hear any cries now…

No. She had to find out what this dream meant. Mustering up her courage, she shot like a torpedo through the city gate and into the depths of the deep, dark sea.

"Caylis?" she called.

No answers.

She swam to another part of the vast ocean.

"Caylis?" she called again.

Still no answers.

But wait – what was this? She could hear feminine voices…

The sound was coming from a cavern positioned nearer to the ocean's surface. As Isca titled her head upward, she noticed a white, fuzzy figure in a purple dress deep in conversation with her sister.

Upon taking a closer look, she realized that this Neopet was the dream Cybunny.

She had to talk to her, and find out what she could. She cut furiously through the helpless ocean as she made her way to the girl.  
"Excuse me, miss?"

Schala let out a quiet gasp. Isca's voice had taken her completely by surprise. She had just been asking Caylis if they could look for her family. Nevertheless, the Cybunny stopped what she was saying to listen.

"I'm Isca," she said. "Well, I suppose I should explain why I'm here – "

"Isca? Is that you?"

Caylis floated over to her sister. She then embraced her.

"What are you doing here?" asked Caylis.

Isca took a deep breath. She didn't know, exactly, how this would go over.

"I had a dream last night – "

Caylis looked as though she were about to plant her face firmly in her hand.

"Oh, don't give me that look," retorted Isca lightly. "Yes, it was a prophetic one, and it happened to be about this lovely Cybunny you rescued." She put one arm around Schala. "What's your name, honey?"

"I'm Schala."

"Caylis, I saw you save her. What happened?"

The look on Caylis's face changed to one of knowing the need to explain something that might not go over well as her sister let go of Schala.

"I saw her teeter and fall from her ship. She was trying to swim back to the surface but the poor thing was only flailing out of fear, and the waves were very strong. I acted quickly and slipped the magic necklace you made for me over her.

"I had a dream too, Isca. I foresaw the Drenched – "

Isca gasped.

" – invading Maraqua, or rather, returning to it…"

* * *

Much deeper in the sea, a dirty-looking Water Faerie pounded the walls of the cavern she lived in. Two others, who looked a lot like her, sighed. Or rather, one of them sighed while the other one gave a low snarl at the the one who had hit the wall.

The sighing Faerie swam up to her sister.

"Alira!" she scolded. "That kind of thing is not going to get you what you want! There are better things to hit…why not go steal someone's Petpet and bang it around instead?"

"But, Reisna…" Alira replied as she gazed upward into her older sister's face, "I just…I don't like it! We got banished for no reason! It's King Kelpbeard who should be languishing here, not us!"

"I know," Reisna sighed. "We're just going to have to do something smarter than just sit around…"

"Well, actually, we weren't exactly truthful, were we?" mused Lirita, the youngest sister. "I mean, those potions and things did give a little more than what was supposed to be given…"

"Oh, hush," Reisna snapped. "So what if some random Neopet was turned into a Petpetpet because they wanted to fly? Who cares about that one Flotsam who wanted to be rich, and so he turned to solid gold? They got what they wanted, didn't they? We were truthful enough. There was no reason for King Kelpbeard to banish us. This time, let's not rely on pirates or anything. They always fail.

"This time, sisters, we're taking over the city ourselves."


	2. Chapter 2

Schala trembled. She had heard about the Drenched.

For a long while, no one spoke. Caylis had nothing more to say, Isca didn't know what to do, and Schala, for her part, was utterly frightened.

At last the Cybunny spoke.

"Uh…Caylis? I think that you – and Isca – should tell the king around here," she said in a small voice. "He's bound to know what to do."

Isca sighed.

"Sweetie, I already tried that," she explained. "He didn't listen to me."

"Besides, he absolutely despises me," Caylis added. "He'll think that the evil things are going to appear right behind me at any moment. He'll send me away from Maraqua, or have me thrown in prison. That is just how he is."

"Well," Schala said, "I certainly don't agree with the fact that he banished you in the first place, but unless I'm mistaken, it was told that he offered you entrance back in after Scarblade was defeated, right? I think that our best option is talking to him, and based on what you've said, I think I should go alone –"

"NO!" squealed the Aisha sisters together.

"Please don't," Isca pleaded. "It is far too dangerous for one as inexperienced with our world as you are. I have seen many horrid beasts in these depths. You were very lucky that Caylis was there when you fell from your ship, or you might have been lost forever. Don't do it, please."

"But –"

"No!" Caylis snapped. "You are not leaving this spot until I can find your family and contact them. You are especially not going into the dark waters where countless who-knows-what dwells. And you won't blab to that fool about my prophecy! If you do, we'll both be thrown in the dungeon!"

Isca turned and sighed again. Her voice was laced with utter hopelessness of what was to come. She slowly floated away in the direction of the city's safety.

"Humph," Caylis groaned, planting herself on a rock chair inside. "If that ridiculous Koi won't do anything about this, it's up to me. Schala, don't even think about it. I won't have a little girl risking her life."

Schala gave a tired gasp, and floated away to her room. She rolled onto the seaweed bed and began to think. No matter what Caylis said, there was no way she was going to save Maraqua on her own. For a split second, Schala thought that it might truly be no more than a nightmare, but then she remembered. Caylis and Isca's dreams were always prophetic if they could remember them so vividly.

She would have to go to the king herself. She didn't care what Caylis said; no one could make her do anything. If she wanted something done, she would have to sneak out. It was getting darker; she had better do it soon.

She made her way to the door, watching to see if Caylis was keeping an eye on her. She wasn't; she was absorbed in some sort of spellcasting. Not once did she glance in Schala's direction.

As quickly as she could, the Cybunny slipped out the door and swam faster than she thought she could, for fear of getting caught by Caylis.

But oh! Out here in the watery wilderness where no light shone, Schala couldn't see a thing. She thought of returning back to Caylis and sneaking out again when it was lighter. She turned, and realized that there was no way she was going to find her way back.

The only place to go was to Maraqua, where of course people would be putting up lights. There, she would speak to the King. Then she would leave. She had to find the _Sakura_ again and let Mima and Sae know that she was all right. They had to be terribly worried.

Just then, out of the corner of her eye, Schala caught sight of a pair of glowing lights. Except they weren't lights – they were eyes; most likely the eyes of some terrible deep sea denizen. She swam away, once again as fast her arms would take her, and stopped to relax. She had not been in one spot for a minute when she heard something roar. Schala squealed and fled.

She did not know this, as she could not see where in Neopia she was going, but the Cybunny was headed straight for the seafloor. She felt her hands abruptly slam into the ground. Utterly shocked, she began to push herself forward, stopping unexpectedly when something grabbed her skirt.

Schala screamed. She was sure a horrible, Neopet-eating water monster had nabbed her. She tried to swim away with all her might when she felt something slip from her neck.

The necklace!

She grabbed for it in desperation, and caught it safely in her paws, pulling it back onto her neck.

It was then that she noticed whatever had grabbed her had, for some reason, not done away with her already. Curious, she felt the ground. At last her paw felt her skirt. It had caught on a shard of…something…sticking out of the ground.

With a sigh of relief and exhaustion, Schala floated to the seafloor and soon fell asleep.

* * *

_Pit pat…pit pat…pit pat…_

Two sport boots hit the floor of the Altador Coliseum as the owner of them caught a brown Yooyu in her white paw. Schala threw the Yooyu right into the opposite goal, only to have it intercepted by Mima.

Schala laughed. One-on-one Yooyuball was always fun. Not a minute later, it turned to a groan as her sister scored again.

"Hey…Mima?" Schala said.

The Acara turned her blue head.

"Yes?"

"What do you think it's like to live underwater?"

Mima giggled.

"How would I know? This is Altador, where –"

Suddenly, dark storm clouds began to cover the sky. It happened quickly, almost as if they were the result of a Darkness Faerie's spell.

"Schala! Come on!" Mima shouted as the rain began to pour down upon them.

The Cybunny raced for the door, but the water was rising. By the time she had started running the flood was up to her knees. When she was halfway there the downpour had overflowed up to her waist. And finally, just as she was about to grab her sister's hand, the ocean that was being created had reached the tips of her ears. The Kingdom of Light was utterly soaked.

Desperately, Schala began to push her way toward the surface when she saw something glow around her neck. It was Caylis's necklace.

She had to find Mima – fast.

"Mima!" Schala called as she swam up to the Hall of Heroes.

No answer.

"Mima! Mimaaaaa!"

She flowed through the rooms of Katare Academy, the school the two sisters attended.

"MIMA!" she screamed.

There was no Acara in sight.

"Mima…Mima…oh, Mima…"

She nearly choked on her tears.

At last she opened her eyes.

She was on the ground. Her boots were absent, and her skirt was caught on what looked like a jagged piece of a ruined building.

It came back to her. She was underwater, near Maraqua. She had fallen from her ship. Mima, as far as she knew, was safe and sound.

Still, the emotion left over from the nightmare made Schala shake like seaweed. Mima, however safe she was, was probably just as teary here in the real world as Schala had been in her dream. She had to find her, and let her know she was okay.

Delicately, she took the torn part of her skirt and lifted it off of the ruin. It was light now, so she could easily see where she was going. In that instant, she completely forgot about the danger Maraqua could be in. Her only thoughts were of finding the [i]Sakura[/i], Mima and Sae.

Tiredly, but with determination, Schala headed for the surface of the water.

With a gasp, the Cybunny broke the surface. She had not breathed air in a long while, and it was like a call home for her. However, just as she was wondering where to find the ship, a tidal wave fell right over her head. Looking up, she saw that the storm in her dream had come from hearing something very real.

She was caught in the middle of a storm at sea. As the next tidal wave lunged forward, she realized that there was absolutely no way she was going to be able to find the _Sakura_ in this weather. The storm was too strong. Even now, she felt herself sinking down, or the water level was rising due to the massive amount of rain. Either way, it was a sure shot that she wasn't going to find her family.

It would be better to go back to Caylis, she decided. Caylis knew these waters better than anyone else living here, and she would be able to track down Mima and Sae and tell them where Schala was. With a sigh, Schala sank back under the water and began to head away from the Maraquan Ruins.

She suddenly stopped. Thinking of Caylis had traced her memories back to the Aisha's most likely prophetic nightmare. Maraqua was in danger!

She had to speak to King Kelpbeard before doing anything else. The Cybunny turned and sped like a torpedo toward the glittering underwater city.


	3. Chapter 3

"Please, this is urgent! You have to let me in!"

Schala stood – er, floated face to face with a pair of bulky Maraquan Skeiths. They were in front of the gates to the underwater city and held large spears of Maractite. It was clear they were very serious about their jobs.

"We don't allow land-dwellers here," one of them said in a gruff voice.

"Please, listen!" Schala pleaded. "There's something King Kelpbeard needs to know! And he needs to know it now –"

"GET OUT!" bellowed the other guard. "Or I will have to call for the royal militia!" He angled his spear so that it almost was pointed at Schala.

The Cybunny, now a bit frightened, immediately swam away.

There was no way she would be able to take on those Skeith guards. She had no idea how to handle any kind of weapon, and they were so much larger than she was.

She would just have to find another way in.

* * *

"SCHALA! Schala, _where in the blessed ocean are you_?!"

Caylis had been frantically searching the seas for the lost Cybunny for the whole night. Being a creature of the water, she could see better in the dark seas than land-dwellers could. But she hadn't found a trace of the Cybunny; she had taken the most direct path to Maraqua, where she was sure Schala would have gone. Unfortunately, Schala had gotten lost in the dark. And by the time she had reached the gates to the city, Caylis was searching elsewhere.

She continued to speed through the deep waters as she spied a cave. By now, she had guessed that perhaps the Cybunny was lost and had taken shelter somewhere. The Aisha swam in but abruptly stopped in her tracks when she heard a voice.

"Isn't that a little risky?" Lirita was saying. "We could get caught and be thrown in the dungeon!"

"For the love of the Darkest Faerie, shut it, will you?!" Reisna snapped. "We are far more powerful than those puny little warriors of his. Capturing the Aisha will be easy."

Caylis gasped. The only Maraquan Aisha she knew who could possibly help in an invasion was her sister.

Lirita turned to see where the sound was coming from, only to be interrupted by Reisna.

"Stop messing around and listen!" she commanded.

"Why are doing this ransom thing?!" Alira snarled. "It would be better to just overthrow the king!"

"If we do that," Reisna responded, "they will just get someone to succeed him. Someone who isn't one of us. No…we need to be legally handed the land in order for this to work. The king is so easily manipulated. Remember the time we tricked him into charming Isca?"

The three of them laughed darkly.

"He loves the girl like a daughter," Reisna continued in an amused voice. "If we offer her in exchange for Maraqua, he will oblige. And then we will take our rightful revenge on the fish who unreasonably sent us away!"

"Charming" Isca? Caylis did not like the sound of that. Had the king himself given Isca her gift of prophecy? No, he couldn't do that. But the Water Faeries of his court…they could.

Just as Schala had done, Caylis turned and sped towards Maraqua. She had to warn Isca of this plot and get her out of the city before those three vile sea urchins could find her.

Ducking behind a low coral, Schala peered up at the waters above and the guards of the Maraquan gates. She had decided to wait for the next Neopet to be let in and then follow them inside while the gates were still open. She knew it wasn't the best plan in the world and it most certainly would not work out, but it was the best she had, as she had not found another entrance to the city.

Just then, a glimpse of a familiar Aisha caught her eye. As a graceful sail dances in the wind, Caylis's speedy movements under the water had a certain elegance to it. She reminded Schala of a queen; a warrior queen rushing to defend her land.

The Cybunny swam up to Caylis and tapped her on the shoulder.

"KYAAA – oh, Schala, it's just –"

For the second time, Caylis stopped speaking. She couldn't believe her eyes.

"Schala…" she said, small tears leaking out of her eyes. The tears, to Schala, appeared to be gazing on her with love. That…wasn't possible, was it? They looked like regular tears.

Then, without warning, Caylis erupted into joyous laughter. It was the first time she had laughed in twenty-seven years.

Then, suddenly, her expression turned angry.

"Don't _ever_ sneak out on me again! Something very bad could have happened! You're a little girl, and your family is very worried about you, I'll bet! You are getting back to them if it's the last thing I do.

"Come on, we need to get to Maraqua. Those three Dark Faeries in Water Faerie forms are planning something horrid."

Schala took Caylis's paw and the pair swam to the gate.

The Skeith guards, upon seeing Caylis, looked quizzically at one another.

"Listen," Caylis said, letting go of Schala's paw. "I happen to have a certain amount of magical talent." She formed in her left paw what looked like a bluish-green orb. "If you don't let us in, land-dweller included, I just might use this." The orb bounced up and down.

Immediately the guards opened the gate nice and wide.

"Woah," Schala said as she followed Caylis into the kingdom. "If I'd known they were such scaredy-Kadoaties, I would have pushed them aside myself."

Caylis was not listening. Her mind was focused on one thing and one thing alone: getting her sister out of the kingdom. If the Drenched found her, Caylis would never, ever forgive herself.

Trembling, the two Skeith guards took their places at the gate, closing it behind Caylis and Schala. Both breathed huge sighs of relief. Unfortunately for them, it didn't last for long. On the horizon one of them spotted three shadows of what looked like a trio of Water Faeries. He had a hunch, and it was right.

* * *

"Get out of my way, you slimy stalk of seaweed!" Alira snapped as she pushed ahead of Lirita in line.

"Stop it, you two!" Reisna ordered. "We are almost to the city. Soon, very soon, our plan will be working!" She laughed darkly. "Just look at those 'tough' guards. If Caylis's sparklets are enough to scare them, we should have no problem getting in."

She smiled an evil smile and swam quickly towards the gate. Upon seeing her, the Skeiths' eyes grew as big as sand dollars, and without a second thought they screamed and scrammed.

"Ha ha," Reisna chuckled as she opened the golden gate. "Come on, sisters. We have a little…princess to capture."

"Your…Highness?"

Schala floated into King Kelpbeard's throne room. Caylis had, in the same manner as with the gate guards, "persuaded" the palace guards to let the both of them see the King.

King Kelpbeard looked down at where the girl's voice had come from. Floating there was a young land-dwelling Cybunny of no more than fourteen. What was _she_, a land-dweller, doing in here?! And how was she breathing?

That was when he saw the necklace glowing around the young girl's neck.

Isca, again! That was it. She had absentmindedly let another land-dwelling Neopet into the city clearly meant for water-dwelling Neopets and water-dwelling Neopets alone! Could they not have some peace, just for once?

"Y-your Highness," she stammered, "I-I'm here because C-Caylis overheard-d a plot to – "

The King started listening closely. He swam off his throne and landed in a spot where he and the girl could easily see eye-to-eye. Schala gasped and attempted a quick bow, which resulted in her floating backwards. Feeling awkward, she straightened herself.

"What is this about a plot, child?" the King asked.

"Um…" What was she supposed to say in the presence of a king? More importantly, how could she say it without insulting him or making him think she was making it up? If she were to be thrown in the Maraquan dungeons simply because she said the wrong thing, she would never see Mima again. And the Drenched would probably take over Maraqua. Then she would be locked up underwater forever, if something worse didn't happen.

"I'm listening. Spit it out."

"Well…" she began, "Your…Highness, there's a sort of a plot sort of thing to take over – "

"King Kelpbeard!"

It was Caylis's voice. The gates to the throne room were open wide. It appeared that Caylis had opened them herself. With an angry look in her eyes, she stormed toward the king.

"I want to know how you 'charmed' Isca," she demanded, looking the king right in the eye.

"Caylis?!" the king snapped, aghast. "Just who do you think you're speaking to?!"

Schala gave a faint gasp. "Charmed" Isca? Did that mean the King himself had gifted her with prophetic dreams? But that also meant –

"It was you?!" Schala snarled, also looking King Kelpbeard in the eye. "You gave Isca and Caylis the visions?! You put a [i]curse[/i] on her?!" She gestured at Caylis. "Is that how you treat your subjects?! I can see why she doesn't like you. Maybe three deranged Faeries [i]would[/i] make better rulers."

Caylis's mouth sprang open in surprise. She had never thought Schala would say that, much less to a king. If Mima had been there, she would have been surprised too. And she had known Schala ever since the day she was born.

King Kelpbeard instantly glared at the Cybunny. [i]What[/i] had she just said?!

Who did this bratty kid think she was, speaking to a king that way?! It was none of her business.

"GET OUT!" the king roared. "THE BOTH OF YOU, GET OUT OF MY SIGHT! NOW, OR ELSE!"

"Come on," Caylis whispered as she and Schala flew to the entrance.

However, there was no denying that the two of them had stumbled on the truth.

Except, he had not known that it would be a curse for Caylis. He only thought it meant they would be able to see into the future. The disasters Caylis dreamed of just happened to be unstoppable by her, for reasons unknown. Indeed, the king had questioned his court Faeries, including Nereid, who supposedly had cast the spell on his orders.

Unless…was she tricked as well? It was true that the Drenched had turned on King Kelpbeard, promising to protect Maraqua in exchange and instead letting slip to Captain Scarblade and his crew where the underwater city was. But Nereid, he was sure, would not have tried to curse anyone.

He had to talk to Nereid. Why had he never bothered to find out about this until now? Maybe the Cybunny was right about one thing. Maybe he _was_ a foolish king.


	4. Chapter 4

How could she have been so utterly stupid?!

Schala couldn't believe herself. Acting all high and mighty in front of a king, and yelling at him. She should have known. If she had been the ruler of Maraqua she wouldn't have tolerated such nonsense either.

Then again, she wouldn't have put a curse on Caylis in the first place.

Of course he would deny it. He didn't want his people to know about his treachery. If he had confirmed it, anyone would have believed anything Schala or anyone else said about what he did. Now, it looked to the whole kingdom as if she was a lunatic talking nonsense.

She had been told by Saeryena and by Mima not to be anything but polite and formal with King Altador, should she ever meet him, and any complaint she had should be a request, not a demand. The Cybunny sighed. Why had she done such a foolish thing? She was supposed to know better. And now, because of her, the Drenched would probably take over Maraqua. And who knew where they would go from there? More of those ocean storms might be stirred up. Sae and Mima might not make it back to Altador!

She had done it. She had brought the whole thing crashing down. It was no use.

With a tiny tear in the corner of her eye, which the ocean promptly whisked away, Schala floated off into the city, utterly defeated.

"Schala!" Caylis began to call. She stopped herself. The poor girl didn't need any of her scolding. She looked ashamed enough as it was.

Well, while she was at it, she still wanted to know what the king had done to her and her sister. She swam up to the palace gates and leaned in close, hoping to hear anything King Kelpbeard might be saying.

Nothing. There was only one thing left to do.

Caylis gingerly opened a window near the top floor of the palace. Being very careful to make sure none of the guards saw her, she took a peek in and swam through.

Perfect. The guards seemed to be concentrated on the floor area rather than the ceiling. She'd need to move quickly before they did.

From around the corner, she heard Kelpbeard's voice. It sounded angry. Abruptly she swam around the corner and nearly bumped into the back of a guard patrolling the upper area of the corridor. She gasped, causing the guard to turn and face her – but she was already gone. She heard him call for the other guards as she landed outside a door.

"Nereid," the king was scolding, "what sort of prophecy –"

Caylis didn't catch another word of it. One of the guards, a Yellow Jetsam, grabbed her by the back of her dress.

"What are YOU doing here?!" he yelled, looking right into her eyes. "No one invited YOU! GET OUT!"

He tossed her out the window as she caught the unmistakable sound of King Kelpbeard's trusted court Faerie, Nereid, weeping.

Flustered, Caylis decided she had to tell her sister what she knew. If she had heard correctly, Nereid had something to do with this.

Where was Schala supposed to go now? To Isca? Maybe…but she didn't know where Isca lived, and it was probably somewhere in the palace, where she most certainly wouldn't be allowed after her outburst. Should she try to go back to Caylis's cave? No, she had no idea where it was. Mima had often told her how bad her sense of direction was.

She began to swim up toward the surface. Maybe, just maybe, she could find the ship or get to some land nearby. She knew Mystery Island and Meridell were near. It would be great if she could find Meridell, because Sae and Mima might be there right now…

She saw something in the distance. It had a fishtail. Was it Caylis? No, there were two. It must be Caylis and Isca.

Then a third one joined the group.

Schala didn't really know who or what they were at first, but as they came closer she saw they were Faeries, not Neopets. The realization didn't hit her until they came nearer.

It was the dreaded trio, the Drenched. Schala screamed.

From nearer to the palace, Caylis heard her. As fast as she could she swam like a torpedo toward the sound, but it was too late. The Cybunny had vanished.

"Unnh…where am I?"

Schala opened her eyes. She was in an underwater cave, again, but not on any kind of bed. And there was none of the safe feeling that came from Caylis's.

"Good, she's awake," said an unfamiliar voice. "Well done, sisters."

She stared up into the eyes of a grey-skinned Water Faerie.

"Here's the deal, girl," Reisna snapped. "You tell us what that fool of a king Kelpbeard is planning to defend Maraqua against our invasion. If you do, we let you go free. If you don't…that pretty little necklace of yours comes off.

"Now," she continued, staring directly at Schala. "What are his plans?!"

"I-I don't know," Schala said in a soft voice, shaking.

"You LIAR!" Alira screeched. She made a grab for Schala's necklace.

"Now, now, sister," Reisna said. "You don't want to make any rash decisions. This little Cybunny is actually a very valuable part of our plot. She seems to be friends with Caylis, who has great powers. Maraqua might actually stand a chance with her on their side. So we need to make sure she doesn't fight for them. And what better and more cruel way to do it then to use her dear little friend as bait?"

Alira's eyes gleamed maliciously as she and Reisna chucked.

"Let's find Caylis!" Reisna cried out. She swept a quick look at Lirita that said [i]You can't go. You're too incompetent[/i]. Lirita crossed her arms and pouted as Alira and Reisna left the cave, hot on Caylis's trail.

With a sigh, the youngest sister plucked herself onto a ledge that stuck out of the cave's inner wall.

"Come to think of it," she said to herself, "our potions were hoax-ish scam type thingies. I mean, like, who wouldn't want a pretty singing voice? That's reasonable enough. It's not fair to make the one who desires it deaf also. And what is it about that poor Peophin who became as big as a Krawken after wishing for super strength? That's just wrong." She giggled softly, so softly that Schala didn't hear.

"Er…what's your name?" Schala asked.

"Oh, me? I'm, like, Lirita! Not Reisna, not Alira, I'm Lirita!"

Perhaps this sister wasn't as bad as the other two.

"Could you…um…untie me then?"

"Oh, sure!"

Lirita swam over to where Schala was tied to a stalagmite. She fired a spark at the ropes, breaking them.

"Oh, thank you!" the Cybunny said. She swam toward the entrance.

"Oh," said Lirita, "don't get lost! Hee hee…"

The evil Faerie waved her hand and muttered something. The poor Cybunny now wouldn't be able to see as well underwater. She was definitely going to get lost.

Finally, she was free.

But…what was this? Was it just her, or had the surrounding area become…blurrier? It was almost impossible to see anything. Had overexposure to water done this?

Schala turned her head. She saw the same thing – blurry formations of what she guessed were rocks amongst a bluish background.

Feeling helpless, she swam around, trying her best to avoid anything that didn't look blue. But wait – what was this? Glitter?

No, not glitter. The city of Maraqua. She had no idea it was so close to the Drenched's cave. She turned so that she was facing the glittering thing directly and swam toward it.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING BACK HERE?!"

It was unmistakably the voice of a Maraquan warrior. She couldn't quite make out what kind of Neopet he was, all she knew was that he was bright yellow. A Flotsam or Jetsam, she guessed.

He grabbed her arm and tossed her away from the city, yelling "DON'T EVER, EVER COME BACK!"

"Oh no," smirked Reisna. "You don't want to use that on us. We won't be able to tell you where your little friend is."

Caylis gasped. Her magic flickered and died.

"We got her!" shouted Alira with excitement. "She's at our cave!"

"Shut up, you," Reisna scolded. Turning back to Caylis, she added, "You have twenty minutes to rescue her…or else." She winked with a glint of malice in her eye.

Caylis just floated there, frozen, as the two Drenched sisters swam away. They were planning an attack on Maraqua, and the king and his warriors were completely unprepared! She had to defend her sister, especially. But Schala…she was trapped, too. Caylis had no idea what to do.

If only Schala had been smarter and not yelled at the king. If only she herself had been smarter, not demanding out of nowhere how Kelpbeard had "charmed" Isca. If only she hadn't even known about the "charming" of her sister. If only the guards hadn't seen her when she'd tried to catch a conversation. If only the ship carrying Schala hadn't made a sharp turn. If only she hadn't done whatever foolish thing she did to get herself knocked off the ship.

If only…

* * *

"_You let her go?!_"

Lirita looked up at Reisna, frightened.

"Y-yes, but – "

"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!" hollered Alira. "YOU ARE THE MOST STUPID LITTLE SISTER A GIRL COULD HAVE! YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO OUR FAMILY! YOU –"

"Please, please stop!" begged Lirita through tears. "Icastaspellonhersoshecouldnt seeanyting!"

"Speak more slowly, idiot," Reisna snapped.

"I cast a spell on her so she couldn't see anything," Lirita repeated.

Reisna's lips curled into an evil smile. Alira cheered.

"Well done, sister!" Reisna said with triumph. "When Caylis arrives here, there will be no one, and she will have wasted all her efforts! Ah-ha-ha! And she'll probably scour the seas for her little friend. And in that time we will be taking over the kingdom! His feeble warriors don't stand a chance against us!"

Reisna threw her head back and laughed maliciously. Lirita giggled. That Cybunny was such a fool. Of course she was evil! Alira joined in.

Their plan was working. The Cybunny was lost for good, and without their best warrior, Maraqua would surely fall.


	5. Chapter 5

"Be gone from my sight, traitor!"

Had she been above water, the Faerie's face would be unmistakably full of tears. Nereid, after a slamming interrogation by King Kelpbeard, had been thrown out of the palace, and by extent, the kingdom of Maraqua itself.

She knew why. It was because she had allegedly cursed one of the Aisha sisters she was supposed to grant prophecy. True, she had given one of them nightmares of things she could not prevent, but at least that was better than what would have happened to the sisters otherwise…

Despite that, it was clear she was no longer welcome in the glittering underwater city. As if she cared anymore. She had done the right thing, or the best thing one could do under such circumstances.

Not far from the city she spied a Neopet – a Cybunny, to be precise. It looked as though it couldn't see underwater.

She took a closer look. It wasn't a Maraquan or water pet, but it didn't seem to have any trouble breathing.

Concerned and intrigued, Nereid swam up to the Cybunny.

It was a young girl with wavy light blue hair. She was wearing one of those magic seaweed necklaces that allowed land-dwellers to breathe under the ocean's surface. What made the Faerie worry was the fact that she seemed to have gone blind.

Her Faerie senses told her that this blindness was not natural. It had happened by magical means.

Carefully, she took the Cybunny in her arms and headed for the surface.

As her head broke the water's surface, Schala found she could see a bit more clearly. Looking up into the face of her rescuer, the realization that this was no Neopet dawned on her.

"Thank you…kind Faerie…" she said.

"My name is Nereid," the Faerie said, smiling. "Now, what happened to you? How did you go blind?"

"I was c-captured by the Drenched," Schala stammered. "B-but one of the sisters let me go. That's when everything went all blurry."

She felt the Faerie shudder when the Drenched were mentioned.

"Thanks again. After King Kelpbeard kicked me out, I got lost…" She started to cry. Without a second thought, she threw her arms around the Faerie.

"I was kicked out just now, too," Nereid replied. "But…it wasn't my fault. I was trapped and had no choice."

"W-what are you talking about?"

"Many years ago, the Drenched…ugh…they forced me to do something terrible. They said if I didn't do it, they would fatally poison my daughter, as well as two innocent sisters. I couldn't let that happen."

"Who were the sisters?"

"I'm sure you've heard of them. Their names are Isca and Caylis."

Schala gasped.

"Nereid…the terrible thing the Drenched made you do…it doesn't have anything to do with Caylis's curse, does it?"

Nereid let out a sigh.

"Oh, not at all," she lied. What would the Cybunny think of her if she told the truth?

* * *

"Schala?! Schala, are you in here?"

Caylis had arrived at the Drenched sisters' cave. It was exactly where they'd said Schala would be.

But there was no Cybunny in sight.

Of course! How could she have been foolish enough to believe these traitors? It was obviously a trick. They just wanted Caylis to get into the cave…but why?

Was it something to do with the planned Maraquan invasion? It must be. Somehow, the Faeries must have known she was planning to defend the city. They wanted her out of the way; it was as simple as that.

Suddenly, the three villainous sisters appeared from their hiding places and cornered Caylis!

"Ah…you came as I asked," said Reisna. "Very good, very good. Now tell me," she said with a sneer, "what are King Fishy's defense plans?"

"Defense plans?" snapped Caylis. "What are you –"

"HA!" shouted Alira. She and Lirita giggled.

Caylis clapped her hand to her mouth instantly.

Reisna chuckled, waving her hand. The spell Caylis had been aiming became powerless.

"Thank you very much for that information. How obliging."

The younger sisters grabbed the ropes that had previously bound Schala and began to wind them around Caylis.

If Schala wasn't here…where was she? Was she safe? Caylis shuddered as she remembered what she had said to her at a time that now seemed so long ago.

"_You are not leaving this spot until I can find your family and contact them. You are especially not going into the dark waters where countless who-knows-what dwells_."

If it hadn't been for her stupidity, thought Caylis, Schala wouldn't be at the mercy of the countless "who-knows what" right now.

* * *

"Can you see now, honey?"

Schala shook her head and opened her eyes. Everything seemed a lot clearer.

"Nereid, thank you!" Schala cried out joyfully. "Now, let's get back to Maraqua!"

"No!" Nereid snapped. "Didn't you listen? Neither of us are welcome there anymore!"

"Look, I'm sure the King will take you back if you tell him what you told me!"

"I already did, hun. He thinks…" She began to weep. "He thinks I made the whole thing up!"

"Nereid, this is important! The Drenched sisters have a plan to invade Maraqua, and King Kelpbeard doesn't know a thing about it!"

Instantly, the look on Nereid's face was replaced by one that looked calm and concerned, but was trying to hide a panic.

"Are you sure, honey? Absolutely sure?"

Schala nodded.

"Caylis had a premonition about it. She saw them returning to Maraqua."

"Wait – you know Caylis? How –"

"I was on a ship, with my sister and guardian, and I fell off. She saved me."

"What did you tell the king to make him so angry at you, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Oh, that…I found out he had ordered Caylis cursed just as I was going to warn him about the Drenched sisters. Then I did something really foolish" – she put her face in her paw – "and I started shouting at him about how could he and he was a really foolish king and I even said…I even said the Drenched sisters might make better rulers than him! Now the whole city is at stake and it's all my fault!"

Nereid took the Cybunny in her arms.

"There, there," she said softly. "Now, if what you say is true, than we must hurry to Maraqua. Do you have your magic necklace?"

Schala held out Caylis's necklace for Nereid to see.

"Good. Then let's go."

* * *

Reisna's chuckles echoed through the palace. The evil sisters, it seemed, had taken Caylis's words to heart. Having easily slipped by – or rather, scared – the main gate's guards the last time they had gone into the city to bargain with Caylis, they had managed a similar way of entry into King Kelpbeard's palace.

"Too bad your precious Nereid isn't here to save you!" Lirita giggled.

"You really are quite stupid," said Reisna, smiling. "That land-dwelling Cybunny in the palace was going to tell you we were coming. What did you do?"

King Kelpbeard did not answer. Why had he been, as she had correctly stated, such a foolish king? When she had said that thing about "evil Faeries being better than you" – he didn't even stop to think what she meant. And she hadn't even known about his involvement with Isca's and Caylis's gifts, he assumed, until the latter Aisha had come bursting in demanding how he "charmed" her sister. Because – and he should have seen this before – the girl wasn't even angry with him _until_ the "charm" was mentioned.

It had had nothing to do with trying to oppose him; she was simply defending her friend. It was something King Kelpbeard had realized all too late.

"How pompous," Reisna continued. "Probably too busy playing king to even give her the time of day! How rude of you, Kelpbeard!"

Something snapped in Kelpbeard's head. _Playing king?!_

"Listen!" he shouted. "I do not 'play king'! Ruling is not a game where you get to live happily ever after in a gorgeous castle! It's a tremendous responsibility! Something you three will never understand!"

"Yeah, you're really responsible, you know that?" Alira snapped. "If you were, you would have PROTECTED AGAINST US!"

"Shut it, Alira!" Reisna scolded. "I think there's something really fishy about that statement you just made – shush!"

She shot a glare at Lirita, who immediately stopped giggling.

Kelpbeard stood up.

"LISTEN, Faeries! I am NOT a foolish king, and I do NOT play games! If you thought you could storm in here and take the throne from me, you thought wrong!"

"Oh, someone called the high and mighty King of the Sea foolish!" laughed Reisna.

"It was that rude, bratty little Cybunny who said it! You didn't give a me a choice! I _had_ to have spells cast on the girls, or you would've destroyed my kingdom! And then Nereid had to go and betray me…"

"Nereid never betrayed you, King Kelpbeard. We gave her a choice, just like we gave to you."

Seeing the look on the King's face, Reisna continued, "Oh, did she tell you that? Poor little dear. You really were a foolish king not to believe her. Now you've lost your most loyal member of court, all because you think you're so much better than anyone else in the sea – or on land!"

Of course. If he was that bad at trusting in the first place, why should he have believed her? He had only brought her to her knees – well, tail. If he couldn't see anyone else would be as protective as he was, and even more so in her case, considering her child was involved!

Realization of who was floating right in front of him made his mind swiftly return to the situation at hand. The Drenched were invading. He had to do something! Was there a sword anywhere?

Whew! He had just noticed a Maractite coat of arms hanging on the wall. In desperation, he swam up to a sword and pulled it out, preparing to take on Reisna and her sisters.

Reisna smirked.

"It's not going to be that easy, King Fool."

With a wave of her hand the sword was shattered.

"Lirita, tie him up."

He tried to reach for the sword from the coat of arms, but it was too late. Alira was already holding his hands behind his back as Lirita bound them.

Despite everything, he knew they were right about one thing: he was selfish, and possibly the most foolish king who had ever lived.


	6. Chapter 6

Reisna's maniacal laughter echoed from the throne room to the rooms nearby. It was clear to the palace guards that the Drenched had captured the king, but none of them dared try to stop them – not after Alira had knocked out a team of five sent into the throne room with her magic. The Faeries' power, they reckoned, was five times greater than theirs.

"So, Kingy," Reisna chuckled. "This is the part you hand the kingdom over to us. And if you don't…well, let's just say that we have Caylis captive, and sooner or later we'll find Isca. Now, would the King of Fools want anything to happen to them?"

He wasn't going to hand the kingdom over. No way. But hadn't he already caused Isca and Caylis enough pain? What was he supposed to do? And where in the Faerie-forsaken ocean were his guards?! Were they cowards? Or had they simply chosen to take the easy way out after those five had been defeated by Alira? When this was over – if it ever was over – he was going to have to recruit some better guards.

"_Hey_! You let him loose!"

Kelpbeard looked up at where the familiar voice had come from. Caylis! But Reisna said the sisters had captured her. Was she being deceptive? Well, that was to be expected of someone her type.

Reisna's cold, gray eyes widened in shock the second she turned.

"_Caylis?!_ B-but how in Neopia did you –"

The evil Faerie's question was answered as two more figures entered the room. Nereid and Schala strode in, as well as they could underwater.

Her expression did not stray. The Cybunny lived? But how? Lirita had told Reisna she'd blinded that fluffball. Either her younger sister had turned on her, or…Nereid had found and rescued the fuzzy thorn in her side. And they, together, had released Caylis.

Caylis turned to Schala. The Cybunny saw love in the Aisha's eyes. Aside from the one time Caylis had found her and cried (and Schala reckoned Caylis was just overjoyed she was alive), she had never looked at her that way before.

"You must have some major guts to be able to come back here," Reisna snapped at Nereid. "Your foolish king doesn't trust you anymore. You are a disgrace."

There was no flourish of the pleasure of taunting in Reisna's voice now. Realizing her invasion might go down, she was full of anger.

"Schala," Caylis whispered, "please go find my sister and inform her of what is going on."

"But –" Schala began.

"Nereid and I can take of ourselves. Please?"

Reluctantly, Schala left, hoping Nereid could withstand Reisna's constant ridicule.

It was only after three full searches of the kingdom in its entirety that Schala began to wonder where Isca was. In all the time she had taken swimming around, asking random Neopets and Water Faeries where the Aisha might have gone, she had never once spotted or heard helpful news of Caylis's sister's whereabouts.

It could only mean she had left Maraqua. Why, Schala did not know. But she did know full well that Caylis would not approve of her leaving. And this was happening when she had at last won Caylis's trust. It was clear the Aisha had cared about her from the beginning, but Schala figured she hadn't considered her a true friend until just recently.

Well, it didn't matter. They needed Isca to halt the takeover. She would rather see the Maraquans alive and happy than be on the run in a ruined kingdom with only Caylis – and possibly not even her – to protect her.

"Isca? Isca!"

The water shone a beautiful sea-green with hints of blue swimming in it, like a painting. But within it no creature was to be seen with the exception of the occasional Catamara.

Looking at the Catamaras, she remembered her own Catamara, MagusOfSaeryn. He was probably still on the _Sakura _or in Meridell. Wherever he was, so were Mima and Sae. For a split second Schala considered breaking the surface and trying to find them, but she caught herself. She would never be able to forget Caylis, fighting against the Drenched and all their evil. If she left, the Drenched would likely take over. And with their evil and power, who knew what else they were capable of. They would probably stir up whirlpools to sink all the ships, including the one Schala and her family would depart on.

Thinking of the Drenched, a horrible revelation hit Schala: what if Isca had already been captured? If that was so, Schala had to find her before anything happened. She sped further into the unknown.

"OOF!"

Something – something [i]big[/i] – bumped into her. She turned and had to blink to make sure Lirita hadn't cast some sort of weird spell on her eyes again.

"Isca! There you are!"

"Schala, honey! What are you doing all the way out here?"

"Looking for you! Your sister –"

"I saw you. I saw you leave the city, too. I was about to tap you on the shoulder when you sped away! Come, we must go back."

"Are you out of your mind?! Schala, I told you not to leave the city!" exclaimed Caylis upon their return. "Isca, however did you find her?"

"You never told me not to leave," Schala replied. "Just to find your sister. I could not find her in the city."

"It goes without saying, I should have thought! From now on, don't lay a paw outside of Maraqua! Understand?"

Schala nodded, knowing there would be no reason for her to do so now.

"Caylis, I was on my way to the palace myself when I saw her looking. I saw her leave."

"Caylis, Isca!" Schala cried out. "Look!"

Dangerously close to Kelpbeard's throne, Nereid and Reisna were battling it out. Both were easily dodging the magic of the other at first, but soon Nereid began to noticeably become weaker. She had been using all the power she had to produce something that would weaken Reisna. She barely dodged the next blast Reisna sent at her. And to make matters worse, Alira and Lirita were joining in.

"HEY!" shouted Caylis. Alira turned. At that second Caylis and Isca were both coming at her with spell after spell. Caylis was more powerful than Isca, and soon Isca left to get Kelpbeard and his attendants out of the palace.

Schala saw her chance.

"Lirita!" she yelled. "Over here!"

Giggling maliciously, Lirita made a bolt for Schala, and the Cybunny slid out of the palace door. She made many loops around the palace, making sure to dodge Lirita's magic blasts. She then sped toward the surface. Unfortunately, her left paw was hit.

"Owww…"

Her paw was in pain from the blast, but she pressed on. When she did break the surface she was quite surprised she had made it. The slower rate at which she had been swimming had made her an easier target for Lirita.

As the name crossed her mind, Schala found herself staring into the Faerie's evil grey eyes.

Immediately she dived again, this time headed for Isca, and swimming right in front of her. Not seeing the Aisha, Lirita continued to pursue Schala – only to have her wrist gripped tightly by the hand of Caylis's sister.

"You're not going anywhere," Isca said calmly. "You will stay right here."

"Oh, no she will not!"

The dark form of Reisna slowly came into view, as she prepared to fire a blast at Isca. In shock, the Aisha dropped Lirita's hand.

"CAYLIS! NEREID! HELP!" Schala called.

No one seemed to be coming. Were they okay? Wait – why was Reisna out here instead of in the palace fighting Nereid? Had she…?

It was unbearable to think about. Schala raced toward the palace. Caylis and Alira were still at it, but Nereid was sitting on the ground, trying to keep herself upright. Her tail lay still, and she was breathing heavily.

"Nereid!" Schala said, rushing toward her. "Are you alright?"

"Schala, honey, listen," said Nereid in a soft voice. "Even Reisna doesn't have absolute power. Her magic, like mine, will go into remission if it's used too strong for too long. She is the oldest and most powerful of the three sisters, and Alira and Lirita follow her. They will likely see no point in continuing the invasion if Reisna is defeated."

"Will you be okay?!"

"I will be alright, but you must act quickly if you want to stop Reisna."

"Caylis! Come on!"

Schala and Caylis raced out of the palace, closely followed by Alira.

"There!" she shouted, pointing at Reisna, who was throwing powerful magic at Isca. Isca was dodging it, though now that Lirita was joining in, her chances seemed less.

"STAY – AWAY – FROM – MY – SISTER!"

In a flash Caylis was now fighting Reisna, who began to look worried, while Isca grabbed the hands of the surprised Alira and Lirita.

"Maractite shackles!" Isca called. "I need them! Here and now!"

One of the king's attendants swam toward the palace.

Reisna laughed. "You cannot hold me off forever, 'Princess'. I am the most powerful Faerie in the entire ocean! I know magics you would never even dream of! I –"

The king's attendant clasped a Maractite handcuff over Reisna's left wrist. Within seconds her magic blasts flickered and died.

Alira and Lirita rushed forward to help their sister, but two of the guards caught their wrists too.

King Kelpbeard slowly came into view from behind the forest of seaweed where he had been hiding.

"Guards!" he commanded. "Throw them into the dungeons and do not take the shackles off!" Then, looking Reisna in the eye, he scowled. "I'll deal with [i]you[/i] later."

There were cheers of joy from everyone in the vicinity as the guards led the three evil Water Faeries away.

"Nereid," the king said. "I am truly sorry that I ever doubted you. I know I have been foolish."

"I forgive you," she replied with a kind smile. "However, I do not wish to stay here. When you threw me out you were the greatest fool of a king I had ever known. I know you are not anymore, but still…my place is not here."

She turned, facing every Neopet gathered there.

"My wish is to travel the oceans and help the lost, misguided, and hurt within or sailing upon the seas, like my dear daughter, Aria."

Schala smiled.

"Thank you, my dear," Nereid said. "Meeting you reminded me of what I really cared about. I am terribly sorry I lied to you. I was the one who gifted Isca and Caylis, only I had no idea of the calamity it would cause."

"It's okay," Schala said. "I would have done the same under such a threat."

"Oh!" gasped Nereid. "You would doubtlessly like to see your family again, would you not? Come, let us find them!"

* * *

Mima sat on the shore of Altador, prodding the shoreline with a stick. She, Saeryena, and the two Petpets had taken an immediate ferry back after their landing. Tears leaked from her eyes. Her poor sister…it had been over three days since she had fallen into the sea. She could almost see her now, swimming and laughing…

…Wait. Now she _definitely_ saw her. Was it a trick of the light? Or was her mind being especially cruel to her?

No. It couldn't be. It just _couldn't_. She could swear she also saw Isca, Caylis, and a Water Faerie. How was that possible?

"Mima!"

Mima gasped. The Cybunny was coming ashore and…it really [i]was[/i] her sister after all!

"Schala! Schala! Oh, Schala!"

The Acara ran to her sister and squeezed her tightly.

"You're alive! Oh, I can't believe it! What happened?"

Schala felt Mima's tears run down her back. Some tears of her own started to from.

"Well," she said, letting go of Mima, "it's quite a long story and a very fishy tale. But it starts with this." She held out the necklace. Mima gasped.

"Whoa! Those things are real!"

"And…" Schala gestured toward Caylis. "…her."


End file.
